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Kousa Dogwood - advice ??

15 years ago

I have four Kousa Dogwoods that I planted four years ago. They are all doing well. But, one has a "double" trunk as you can see from the attached pictures. The trunks are only about 2-3 inches in diameter because the tree is still fairly young. I have also attached a view showing this tree compared to the others (if you look closely it is the tree a little left of center in the picture). Should I let it go as is or would it be better to cut off the right-side trunk which is on an angle? The left trunk is actually pretty straight (perpendicular to the ground).

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Comments (4)

gardener_sandy
15 years ago
Prune out the right side trunk, and sooner rather than later. The trunk to the right in the picture will be weak and prone to breaking later in the tree's life. Also, it will make the main trunk canopy lopsided so when the weaker one breaks, the tree will not be nicely shaped.

There also appears to be some dead limbs on the main trunk. These should be pruned, too. I'll add a link to a good site with information on pruning that shows you how and where to make the cuts. Pay particular attention to the illustration of the branch bark ridge and branch collar and how to make the three part pruning cut.

And don't worry about timing for this kind of pruning. Most deciduous trees are pruned in the winter or for those that bloom in the spring, just after blooming. Pruning for the health of the tree, removing dead or diseased wood, and taking out broken branches are best done as soon as you are aware of the problem.

Good luck with this. Kousas are beautiful trees and nearly pest free. I hope this one goes on to become a beautiful asset to your landscape.

Here is a link that might be useful: VA Tech pruning publication
brandon7 TN_zone7
15 years ago
I disagree that the right trunk would be weak or prone to breaking off. It has a reasonably good crotch angle and looks well attached.

That said, I do see that the right trunk has a pretty large wound that looks kind of ugly. I also don't personally like the way the tree looks with this trunk. For these reasons, I would recommend removing that trunk.

The tree does look like it could use some attention. As Sandy suggested, any dead limbs should be removed.
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Embothrium
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There's a flip side to that, too: the canker-like wound on the competing stem will now be replaced by a wound on the side of the main stem, near the base.

This shows why you want to make major structural alterations - if any, when the tree is dinky.
snasxs
15 years ago
Did you buy them from the same store? This unlucky tree looks weaker and smaller than the one next to it.

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